Just In Time: St. Mel Tips No. 18 Hillcrest At Buzzer

December 14, 1998|By Chip Scoggins. Special to the Tribune.

Corey Minnifield knew he still had one second.

And one last chance.

Minnifield tipped in his own missed shot as the final buzzer blared to give No. 4 Providence-St. Mel a 62-61 victory against No. 18 Hillcrest on Sunday in the premier game of the Reebok Classic at Loyola University's Gentile Center.

"My first shot rimmed out and Hillcrest thought the game was over," said Minnifield, who finished with 15 points. "I guess they thought there wasn't any more time left on the clock. I just kept playing. Nobody boxed me out, so I tipped it in."

The shot punctuated a gutsy performance by the Knights (8-1), who played their third game in three days on heart, hustle and fumes.

"My kids just don't quit," said Providence-St. Mel coach Billy Garrett, whose team didn't get back from Friday's loss at Downstate Nashville until 6 a.m. "They showed character. They willed this game."

Hillcrest (6-2) took a 61-60 lead on a breakaway dunk by Reo Logan with 14 seconds left.

Rather than call a timeout to set up a final play, Garrett watched as senior Rebert Harris, who had a game-high 21 points, raced the ball downcourt for a shot.

Harris missed, and Minnifield grabbed the rebound. His off-balance leaner kissed the backboard, then bounced off the front of the rim.

With one quick motion, Minnifield sprung back into the air for the tip-in as the Hillcrest players watched in disbelief.

"When they got the dunk, they relaxed because they thought they had won the game," Minnifiyeld said. "That's the thing about basketball: It's never over until the buzzer goes off."

Minnifield need not recite that portion of the rulebook for the Hillcrest players to get the point. In a game that had 10 ties and 12 lead changes, the Hawks were within a blink of the eye from being in the joyous locker room.

"It was a fun game for everybody except maybe us," Hillcrest coach Tom Cappel said. "It's kind of like a game in the alley. It's comes down to a last tip-in. Unfortunately, they got it. The ball just bounced their way. Maybe it will bounce our way later on in the year."

In other action Sunday, sophomore Nageeb Echols scored eight of his game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter to help sixth-ranked Young (5-0) pull away from Barrington (6-2) for a 63-52 victory.

Young outscored the Broncos 20-10 in the final quarter. Todd Moser led Barrington with 18 points.

In the final game, Demario Edins scored 18 points to lead 14th-ranked Julian to a 73-59 victory against Farragut. Michael Jones led the Admirals (3-4) with 18 points. Sean Dockery had 14 for the Jaguars (7-1).